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November 14, 1999 " THE RUNAWAY BRIDE" Matthew 25:1-13
This sermon give by the Rev. Gene Preston at Community Church Hong Kong on Sunday, November l4, l999, is an attempt to make the parable of the ten virgins in the assigned Gospel, and the parables of Jesus in general, more intelligible to modern hearers. The context of this sermon was awareness that there are only seven Sundays to go before the Millennium; and more particularly there was a marriage blessing, as part of this Morning Worship, of Frederik van Tuyll van Serooskerken and Janice Sin. The pastor chose to interpret the parable as a teaching on affirming attitudes of the faithful in order to be partners of God's Kingdom, rather than as a specific prophecy about the Parousia, or Return of Christ. The text: "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. (2) Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. (3) When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. (6) But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' (7) Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' (9) But the wise replied, 'No! There will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' (10) And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. (11) Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' (12) But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' (13) Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." I In today's parable Jesus chooses a marriage celebration as his reference. Jewish rabbis often used the marriage feast as the context for teaching about the relationship between God and his people. Jesus was in that tradition. In Matthew 9:14 where the disciples of John critically ask why Jesus and his followers do not regularly fast, he replies: THE WEDDING GUESTS CANNOT MOURN, CAN THEY, AS LONG AS THE BRIDEGROOM IS WITH THEM? And in Matthew 22, just prior to today's text, Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet given by a king for his son. We also know that Jesus himself experienced marriage celebrations as in the marriage party at Cana, a narrative story from his life. From the sense of happy expectation rippling through this congregation I sense that we are of a common thought that God loves marriage celebrations! We do! So it's is no surprise that Jesus chose marriage preparations as his metaphorical setting for his teaching about having confidence that the Kingdom of God is a certainty to be both counted on and prepared for. Like several parables in this part of Matthew (for example, the story of the l0 talents) Jesus encourages us to hold attitudes of patience, hope and endurance in waiting for God to be more fully revealed to us. II While weddings are universal to all cultures and peoples, each society puts its own blessing on this event. In Jesus' time the Jewish custom was that fathers determined when and to whom a child married. When a suitable match was found a legally binding betrothal agreement was executed. In the Galilee where Jesus lived, the couple remained, each in their parent's homes, while the bridegroom built a room attached to his father's house for his bride. During this time the bride prepared for the wedding by making clothing, laying in candles and soaps and other supplies, and generally readying herself for the ceremony. At night, she burned a lamp in her window to show readiness to receive her groom. When all was ready the father sent his son for the bride. A messenger was sent to the bride's home to announce: "Behold, the bridegroom comes!" Upon hearing this news, the bride would come out of her home along with any attendants and friends and a festive marriage procession would begin. Frederik and Janice bring some wedding customs of their respective cultures together in their celebration. Janice wears white, a western color for happiness, while Frederick will pay a call of respect on his in-laws and enjoy a Chinese tea ceremony this afternoon. III Jesus' story is an allegory rather than a teaching as such about marriage preparation. As an allegory I invite you to take a closer look at its several symbolisms, though later we will interpret it as an allegory both for the Kingdom and for the wedding we celebrate today. …Vs. 25:2: the TEN VIRGINS probably represent the disciples, expectant believers who in the context of the Matthean church were still waiting for the return of Jesus as Lord but with decreasing confidence. The allegorical nature of the story jumps out because if this were an actual marriage story it would mean that there are ten waiting brides for only one groom! Are all to marry the one man, or is one to be selected!! …Vs. 3: the five FOOLISH and the five WISE call to mind other teachings of Jesus (Matthew 7:24,26) in which the wisdom in question is the practical wisdom of understanding what salvation is all about. …Vs 5: the DELAYED BRIDEGROOM refers to the fact that some years after the life of Jesus he had not returned to establish his earthly and glorious kingdom. It is this delay which sets up the problem in the first place which is the danger of love growing cold. All were drowsy and sleeping in vs. 5 so the problem is not so much absolute vigilance, which none had, but the READINESS of Vs. 7. …Vs. 6: The shout at midnight may symbolise that Jesus as Lord is the one who springs surprises. Be ready to be challenged! It may equally express the yearning of the Church to be awakened and challenged by its Lord. …Vs 7: READINESS. Five of the ten virgins when awakened could ready their lamps (lamps very much like this one. The minister had a first century replica of a clay oil lamp which was lit at this point to illustrate the lamps in the story). They could get ready to greet the groom at a moment's notice because they had had the foresight to stock wicks and oil. …Vs. 8: The OIL may stand for good works of the faithful as they wait for Jesus. In the Old Testament oil is often a symbol for faithful works as it is in the song we sang earlier today with the children: "Give me oil for my lamp, keep me burning." …Vs. 9: The refusal of the five wise virgins to share their oil does not constitute lack of charity or helpfulness. Their good works are not completely transferable to the foolish. Readiness to accept salvation is a matter of personal responsibility. …Vs. l0: Those who were READY greeted the bridegroom and went with him into the banquet hall. This is probably the point of this allegory: Those who truly expect Jesus will experience his presence in the Kingdom of God which envelops the fellowship of believers. The shut door to the foolish virgins who return so late means that admission to the Kingdom is not automatic. The great oddity of this parable is that there is no bride! Whoever heard of a marriage without the bride. Where is she? She's no where in the story…Is she like the actress, Julia Roberts, in the recent film, "the Runaway Bride!" IV The parables of Jesus cry out interpretation and most of them are open to several interpretations. I believe Jesus chose to teach through parables because he wanted to draw the hearer to experience diverse, multiple and successive meanings. He would not have chosen the parable form if his desire was to control, limit, or narrow our thinking. Rather, he used parables in order to set free our imaginations and our spirits. That is a point which much orthodox Christianity overlooks when it insists on narrow and flat interpretation of scriptures. My preferred interpretation of this parable is along these lines: FIRST, this is a story about the advent of the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to welcome the coming of God's reign with the same thorough preparation yet happy anticipation which we apply to a wedding. An alternate interpretation is that this is a parable about the return of Jesus himself, what is called the Parousia or Second Coming. This issue was certainly upon the Matthean Church which chose to remember and record this story. But and since Jesus seldom spoke of his return and would have agreed with Paul in the epistle reading of today that it is a waste of time to spin anxious wheels waiting for a specific end of time event which is wholly in God's providence, I just imagine he had the Kingdom of God in mind. He claimed to initiate the Kingdom in his time and many other parables highlighted the joy, uniqueness, privilege and spontaneity of being Kingdom believers and Kingdom workers. During the 20 or so years after Jesus until Matthew wrote his Gospel, Kingdom enthusiasm had probably waned precisely because the Second Coming had not taken place. Christian hearts once so wholly fixed on God's initiatives had probably begun to grow distant just because Jesus had not returned as expected. Like principals in a wedding who spend years planning the event, and then experience the onset of tedium and doubt as the actual wedding itself recedes, the Jesus followers probably were having some second thoughts. For Jesus the joy of working for the Kingdom was so intense that he probably would not have imagined the decline of faith which had set in, and which regularly sets in through the eras since. For Jesus, God's Kingdom of human solidarity, justice among all peoples, and peaceable community, was real, urgent, and certain. His faith had to deliver great joy, happiness, celebration. This story then is Jesus' confidence, and Matthew's appeal, that believing hearts not grow cold and distant from the God who is acting on their behalf. We may apply this first point to human marriage and love. Each relationship which results in betrothal, marriage, sexual companionship and the establishment of a new family represents the same brilliant and happy dynamic as the Kingdom of God arriving in our midst: something totally different occurs in our lives. We are swept up by a new force of love, affection, passion, joy. Jesus loved the Kingdom of God, just as I am certain Frederick and Janice love one another. Jesus' appeal to his followers in this story is that they would always live out the love they had for him and for God. As we bless the marriage of Frederik and Janice in a few minutes we yearn for them to live out their love. SECONDLY, the advent of the Kingdom of God in our lives, just like the advent of a great human love, produces a radical change in the tempo and duties of our lives. How can human lives remain unaltered once they have experienced God's initiatives. How can our lives be the same once we allow a new person to become part of us. We are confronted, challenged, disturbed by Kingdom membership as by marriage membership. Like the silly five marriage maidens, a believer is very foolish who embraces God and thinks not of the changes needed thereafter. How naïve for anyone to enter into marriage and to believe that very little change will be required. A new love must create fresh circumstances and new duties. While enthusiasm, passion and excitement are the traits of a great new love, whether of God or another, staying the course calls for some less glamorous and more durable virtues like fidelity, dutifulness, readiness, preparation. THIRDLY, the parable suggests the implications of embracing the Kingdom. The wise virgins entered with the groom into the great banquet hall; and their party begins. The door is closed to others. The lives of those now gathered to the main festival go forward with a different kind of energy and purpose than those left outside the party. So, also, the marriage couple enter into a mutual new life and they can never return to the former, separate aspects of their lives. They become mutual parties to their party. And in some fundamental ways the door of their marriage closes to everyone except themselves. That is the unique intimacy which marriage wraps around the couple. And so those who want to be with Jesus in his Kingdom enjoy a special life; outsiders cannot know it and therefore cannot judge it. V In this story, Jesus, I presume, is the groom in the eyes of those who believe in him. Who is the bride? We are the bride! We are the bride! The Church is the bride of Christ. Christ, the groom, and the bride, the Church, are partners in the party of bringing in the Kingdom of God. The bride is not mentioned, perhaps because she is engaging in last minute preparations. She will shortly appear. Maybe the bride, as often happens to the Church, has some second thoughts regarding really wanting to commit to Jesus and enter into a new life which is gracious and wonderful yet challenging and often disturbing. But the bride must appear. After all the story was remembered and recorded in this Gospel by the Church. The bride did show up for the marriage party. And every Sunday when a million congregations gather in the name of Jesus the bride puts in her appearance. And every time one or more Christians offer a cup of water, compassion and courage to someone, the Church, the bride of Jesus, is performing her faithful duties. And speaking of brides I think one is going to show here very shortly. And when Janice shows, Frederik's happiness will complete and our celebration will continue.
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The Rev. Gene R.Preston10/F Kai Kwong Commercial Building 332-334 Lockhart Road Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel : 2551 6161 Fax: 2551 2114E-mail : gpreston@netvigator.com |
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